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Land That Carries Labour Histories
Exhibited as part of Common Ground: Sleaford’s Shared Stories, 2026 
Commissioned by The HUB Sleaford & Sleaford Museum  
Land That Carries Histories_ Sleaford Hub and Sleaford Museum Commission_ Photo by Jules-L
Hub-Install-July-2026-Photo-Jules-Lister-R62_4124-Small.jpg

Using agricultural hessian sacks sourced in Lincolnshire, this suspended textile sculpture traces the connections between farming, migration and labour. The work combines historical maps and land divisions with contemporary data relating to agricultural work, translating these records into a hand-stitched visual language.

Neither a map nor a fixed geography, the sculpture evokes a landscape shaped by generations of movement, cultivation and exchange. In a region where agriculture has long defined both the economy and the environment, the work draws attention to the often-overlooked labour that sustains rural life. It asks how the histories of workers become embedded within a landscape, even when they remain absent from official archives and heritage narratives.

Images captured by Jules Lister.

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